Sunnyside building projects in December total $353,781

Vern Anderson of Anderson Engineering inspects the work being done at the Horizon Inc. building, owned by the Port of Sunnyside. A 2,520 square foot section of the building is being finished to accommodate Sunnyside Beauty Academy, owned by Gayle Hays.

In just a little less than two months, Gayle Hays of the Sunnyside Beauty Academy is hoping to be able to move her beauty school from the four-room building she is currently renting to a new 2,520 square foot facility being finished at 440 Barnard Blvd., in the Horizons Inc. building owned by the Port of Sunnyside.

Hays said she is expecting to move her school from its current East Edison Avenue location to its new home on Port property in roughly 45 days.

Travis Jansen, Port of Sunnyside project administrator, said the 2,520 square foot space in the Horizons Inc. building has been available for lease since last January. He noted that when the Horizons Inc. portion of the building was completed two additional spaces were left unfinished. He said the Port left them unfinished so the sections of the building could be finished to suit whoever the leasee ended up being.

Jansen said the Port is paying to have the portion of the building finished, noting that it hopes to recoup its costs by leasing the location.

In December alone, the Port of Sunnyside applied for four building permits from the City of Sunnyside building division for the project, including permits for plumbing, mechanical and a water meter.

Hays said once the space is finished she will have five sinks, 20 student stylist stations on the main floor, a basic classroom and a facial room. She said the floor plan also calls for a storage room, an office and a student lounge.

Hays said the classroom will have the capability of handling anywhere from 10 to 20 people and the facial room will house two facial tables, which are tables a person can lie down on while receiving a facial treatment.

According to Hays, in the new building she will be able to handle approximately 30 students through the Sunnyside Beauty Academy, which was started in September 2003.

Hays said she chose the Port property because of its close proximity to Sunnyside High School and the Mid-Valley Mall, as well as the fact that the building features good parking, lighting and is handicap accessible.

"Everything was good about it," Hays said of the Port property.

Another project that has been ongoing since the beginning of December, has been the expansion of Dr. Randall Schuler's office at 1725 E. Lincoln Ave.

Dec. 5, DeVos Builders applied for a building permit with the City of Sunnyside building division for work on the office.

Eileen Timmermans, Schuler's office manager, said the expansion includes an office, a new lab and additional storage space. She said the lab will be used to make retainers and plaster casts of teeth. Timmermans said both services are currently offered at the facility, however the expansion of the office will allow more space for the work to be done.

Timmermans said work on the office expansion should be completed by March or April.

The building permits issued for work on the new beauty academy and Schuler's office are five of 41 permits issued by the City of Sunnyside in December. All told, the total valuation of the 41 projects is $353,781. The Sunnyside building division also conducted 376 inspections during the month of December.

More than half of the 41 permits issued last month were building permits, with 21 being issued by the city. Eight of the permits were for mechanical work and six were for plumbing projects. The remaining permits were issued for everything from two water connections to a public works street excavation.

. Elena Olmstead can be contacted at (509) 837-4500, or e-mail her at eolmstead@eaglenewspapers.com